Nothing has confirmed that the CMF Phone 3 Pro will not launch this year, and the reason is straightforward: memory prices have climbed too far. The company says it is no longer willing to compromise the CMF brand’s budget identity just to push out a new phone.
That decision matters because CMF has been positioned as Nothing’s affordable line. If component costs keep rising, the company believes a true successor cannot be built without losing the value proposition that defines the series.
Why the launch is being put on hold
Co-founder Akis Evangelidis said on X that Nothing had been working on a follow-up to the CMF Phone 2 Pro. But the current cost of memory makes it impossible, in the company’s view, to deliver a device that feels like a genuine step forward while still fitting the CMF price tier.
His comments directly address users who had been expecting the next Pro model. Evangelidis also made clear that Nothing has decided not to launch a new CMF phone this year because of that pressure.
RAM has become the biggest cost problem
Nothing has framed RAM inflation as the central obstacle. According to the company, memory has become the most expensive part of a smartphone build.
Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing, said memory is now the most expensive component in a phone. He added that RAM accounts for 50% of a smartphone’s total hardware bill.
Pei also described the pace of price increases as unusually sharp. He said RAM prices had already doubled by the time the Phone 4a launched in March, and then doubled again after that.
He warned that the trend could push phone prices even higher next year. That concern aligns with his earlier remarks that the growing demand for AI is also driving memory needs upward, creating a worse deal for consumers.
Nothing prefers no launch over a weak one
The company’s stance is not simply about supply constraints. Nothing has said it would rather skip a release than put out a product it cannot stand behind.
That approach is especially important for CMF, where affordability is part of the brand’s identity. If RAM costs force the bill of materials too high, the final phone risks drifting away from the category CMF is meant to serve.
Interest in a successor was understandable. The CMF Phone 2 Pro received a positive response, which made expectations for the next model stronger among fans and potential buyers.
But Nothing argues that a replacement cannot just be a routine update. It must deliver a clear improvement without breaking the price balance, and that is the condition the company says it cannot meet right now.
Rumors have already pointed to a different path
Before the official clarification, leaks suggested that the CMF Phone 3 Pro was only delayed rather than canceled. Those reports said the phone would use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 instead of a MediaTek Dimensity chip.
The same rumors also mentioned a 5,400mAh or 5,500mAh battery and a 50MP camera. With Evangelidis’ statement now public, the picture is clearer: there will be no new CMF phone from Nothing this year.
Other CMF products are still in development
Even though the CMF phone line is on pause, Nothing says product development has not stopped. Evangelidis said several new CMF products are still being worked on, although they are likely not phones.
He also hinted that the main Nothing lineup still has more to come. That suggests the company may shift attention to other devices for now, rather than force a budget phone launch under difficult market conditions.
One rumor circulating separately pointed to a Nothing Ear 3a in development, though Nothing has not added further details alongside the CMF Phone 3 Pro decision.
The broader takeaway is that rising memory costs are now shaping product plans across the smartphone market. For brands built on low prices, keeping a device affordable while preserving quality has become a much harder balancing act.